Not everyone is fully on board with the NCAA instituting a policy to allow athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL), including Duke Director of Athletics Kevin White.
White released a statement Tuesday morning addressing the "potential consequences" and "complications" of the NCAA's decision, noting the impact it could have on recruiting for all sports and the unequal sharing of resources between more popular sports and the "no less valuable" Olympic sports, among other concerns.
"As a former Olympic sport coach and as the director of athletics at a number of NCAA institutions, I am deeply concerned about the potential consequences of legislation permitting student-athletes to profit from the use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL)," White wrote in the first part of his statement. "First of all, let me say that I got into college athletics because of my unadulterated admiration and affection for the young women and men who represent our colleges and universities. It has been my honor to work with and for them for more than 45 years. Moreover, as a member of the USOPC board and chair of its college advisory council, my passion is the continued advancement of Olympic sports, especially at the collegiate level."
His full statement can be found in the tweet below.
White does acknowledge that he may be seen as an "athletics [director] eager to preserve the status quo."
To counter that, he points out that "the NCAA student-athlete advisory committee, made up entirely of undergraduate athletes, has expressed its concern that 'there are a plethora of potential unintended consequences' to permitting the use of NIL. Among them, they identify 'unfair recruiting and competitive advantages, difficulty monitoring compensation and ethics, unequal treatment of female athletes, and exploiting of athletes.'"
White was named Duke's vice president and director of athletics May 31, 2008 after having already spent time as the director of athletics at Notre Dame, Arizona State, Tulane, Maine and Loras dating back to 1982. He currently serves as Chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOPC) Board of Directors.
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